Hi all–to make up for my lack of post yesterday, I’ve decided to add an extra two links to the mix today. And yes, that may have something to do with the fact that I collected quite a pile of interesting information between this week and last.

• Hulu now open to the public
  Hulu.com, the joint venture between News Corporation and NBC Universal, is out of beta–the public is now welcome to explore the site’s offerings, which are substantial (if a bit scattershot). While there are plenty of TV shows and movies that you can watch online for free with only minimally annoying commercial interruptions (certainly less annoying than YouTube’s new “lower-third”-style advertising on many of its videos), some newer shows are kept online only for a limited time to allegedly “protect DVD and Web download sales,” though I dare say that it’s unlikely that Hulu will impact either of those things given that Nielsen has determined that web video watching makes a negligible impact on TV viewing.
• Commercializing (and sexualizing) the ER
  Abercrombie & Fitch, the clothing retailer that relies on provocative and oftentimes homoerotic imagery of nude (or practically nude) college-aged boys in its advertising and in-store displays is under fire for donating $10 million to a Columbus, Ohio area hospital in exchange for naming rights to the hospital’s ER and trauma center. Critics say that the company’s overtly sexual ads somehow contradict the concept of healing. Ironically, as Jossip points out, no one said a thing when toymakers Hasbro and Mattel bought the naming rights to other hospitals. What we have here is a double-standard–there are no two ways about it. People are flustered because toys are inoffensive and cuddly but racy ads are somehow “dirty” or shameful. I have no problem with the contribution, especially since $10 million will certainly help the hospital; besides, no one is going to refer to it as the “Abercrombie & Fitch Emergency Room and Trauma Center” in real life. It’ll just be “I ate some bad shrimp, I think I need to go to the hospital” like it always has.
• Fonts from The Price is Right
  I love this–someone with too much free time on his (or her) hands has grabbed stills from various episodes of The Price is Right and identified the fonts used on many of the games. It gets better–the fonts are all available as free downloads. Fun!
• Baring all on camera… and then some
  It’s no secret that the MPAA, which assigns ratings to motion pictures in the United States, has incredibly uneven standards (that’s what the film This Film Is Not Yet Rated was all about); much violence is given a pass, women aren’t allowed to “enjoy” sex, and male nudity is frowned upon. And yet The Guardian notes that in a number of new films (most of which will likely not seek a rating in the USA when they are eventually released here), filmmakers are pushing the envelope and including not only male nudity but (to put it delicately) a very obvious indication of male sexual excitement. I have to wonder if this is truly “progressive” filmmaking, mainly because I’m unable to come up with a viable reason why arousal would ever play a critical on-screen role in a film. Perhaps I’m wrong (and I’m no Puritan by any stretch), but it just seems like a “look what I can get away with” mindset.
• Dreamweaver + CSS = Eric Meyer
  Adobe Dreamweaver is more or less the standard tool of choice when designing web pages, but even with the newest version of the software, its CSS controls are woefully lacking, especially for those of us whose knowledge of CSS is limited. That’s a problem in our post-Web 2.0 world, so CSS expert Eric Meyer partnered with WebAssist to offer the awkwardly-named Eric Meyer’s CSS Sculptor, an extension for Dreamweaver. It appears to be a fairly useful tool for designers who are CSS-challenged, like myself, though from what I can discern I’m going to guess that advanced CSS users will likely want to make manual tweaks to the code themselves. I also wonder if WebAssist will offer upgrades once CSS 3.0 is released–if that ever actually happens.
• Do you have any purple fives?
  The Bureau of Engraving and Printing has just unveiled the newly redesigned $5 bill, which some are decrying as ugly primarily because of the gigantic purple Helvetica “5″ printed on the reverse (though to be fair that’s there primarily because the ADA requires it for the visually impaired).  By and large, though, the design isn’t bad; the purple hues are nice, and the engraving of Lincoln is very distinguished.